jar546
Forum Coordinator
1006.3 Egress from stories or occupiable roofs.
All spaces located on a story or occupiable roof shall have access to the required number of separate and distinct exits or access to exits based on the aggregate occupant load served in accordance with this section.Reason: As this section was revised over the past couple of cycles, the intent was lost. It has always been intended that occupants on a story or occupied roof have access to the minimum number of required exits. The existing language does not say that. It just says that you have to have the minimum number of exits. Therefore, you could have a story that has two exits and if it is split into separate spaces, the occupants may not have access to the minimum number of exits. An interior exit stairway may only be accessed from a single tenant space and you are not permitted to exit through an adjacent tenant to get to an exit. The drawing below shows what the current language permits. The story has two exits on each end of the building. However, if the story is split in two, the occupants from either side do not access to the other interior exit stairway. This proposal clarifies the intent of the code and requires access to the minimum number of exits from a story.